2009
DIRECTOR: Duncan Jones
May Contain Spoilers!
Moon: A film which was clearly modelled on the 1970′s sci-fi classics of the day, complete with lonely man dealing with an extended stay on an industrial outpost who eventually, after three years, coming face to face with himself. I won’t go any further into the plot for fear of spoilers, but I must admit that films which deal with solitude and look into the minds of those forced to deal with it, often leave me a little cold.
But this was a massive exception! Sam Rockwell is our astronaut and it appears that after staring long into abyss, the abyss did indeed stare back at him, but literally in the form of another version of himself. It is this interplay and that with the Kevin Spacey voiced robot/computer, GERTY, which clearly has a resemblance to both HAL 9000 and those robots from Silent Running, both films clearly influencing here, which drive the plot, which is both philosophical and literally quite fascinating.
Does it offer anything new? Well, no, not really but it does manage to pay homage to what is considered to be classic era of Science Fiction, where the loneliness of space replaced Martians and little green men, and it does so with 100% success. This is without a doubt, a masterpiece of modern cinema, with a brisk running time of just 93 mins, therefore not out-staying its welcome and some first-rate performances, particularly from Rockwell, who is pretty much at his best in this.
But the production design, music, cinematography and direction are also the stars here, with a realistic and yet retro feel to the Moon and its sets, an eery and emotionally low-key score from Clint Mansell and beside the aforementioned 70′s tone, the film manages to walk the fine line between feeling realistic and yet stylised. Even GERTY was designed perfectly, looking functional whilst conveying a host of emotions through recognisable emoticons.
But the biggest surprise here for me is that this was successful. Many have tried to recreate cinema’s Golden Eras but Duncan Jones, who would go on to follow this with Source Code, another throw-back, though not as good, has managed to wrestle all the elements to make this work and the result is one of the best stylised Sci-Fi films since Gattaca.
[...] in the 1970′s with this high concept sci-fi thriller. Duncan Jones had previously given us Moon, which was a hard act to follow but certainly in keeping with style of this film. On one hand it [...]
[...] was another tricky month for choosing the best of best, with both Duncan Jones’ Moon and Mark Herman’s The Boy In Striped Pajamas making an impact on me, both scoring 10/10. But [...]
[...] another tricky month for choosing the best of best, with both Duncan Jones’ Moon and Mark Herman’s The Boy In Striped Pajamas making an impact on me, both scoring 10/10. But [...]
[...] in the 1970′s with this high concept sci-fi thriller. Duncan Jones had previously given us Moon, which was a hard act to follow but certainly in keeping with style of this film. On one hand it [...]
[...] MOON 10/10 With Duncan Jones’ Source Code failing to impress me as I had hoped, Moon (2009) seemed to be a difficult proposition. Boy was I wrong! Moon is the perfect blend of old school sci-fi method and new methodologies. Tonally it feels greater and is supported by some stand out performances from Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey. [...]
[...] MOON 2009 (Duncan Jones) Clever and existential. This has “Inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey“ written all over it. First rate performances, deep plotting and an interesting take on the future, it is derivative but it picks and chooses all the right elements to plunder. [...]